Astraphobia
by HarvestBeauty
Summary: An everyday occurrence brings out a surprise fear in someone unexpected. Larry/Terri friendship.


_A/N: This is slightly based on the shocking (ha!) true story involving the actor Richard Kline, who actually was struck by lightning when serving in Vietnam way before Three's Company hit the airwaves._

Jack, Janet, Terri and Larry had been in the trio's living room for hours, lazily and comfortably passing the late morning hours with an easy and fun banter.

Terri loved mornings like this.

She had been smirking into her coffee cup, laughing at something that Larry had said when a deep, echoing rumble marked the end of Larry's sentence like a period. Everyone looked at one another and then up at the ceiling curiously.

"That sounded like thunder." Janet remarked, heading over to the window to peer outside. "Oh, wow! Look at those clouds over there..."

Jack made his way over to the window as well, letting out a low whistle. "It's looking pretty ugly out there. Larry, come here...get a look at this."

"Yeah, no thanks." Larry laughed nervously.

"Oh, Jack!" Janet turned to her friend. "I've got to take care of something at the flower shop and I'd like to do it before the storm hits. Will you please give me a ride?"

"Awww, Janet!" Jack pouted as she batted her pretty brown eyes at him. "You're kidding, right?"

"No, but it will be really quick. It'll take ten minutes tops, I promise. _Please_?" Janet begged.

Jack sighed, his resistance softening. "You owe me a beer at the Regal Beagle if we're there a second longer than that."

"Deal!" Janet smiled brightly. Another rumble of thunder far off in the distance sounded and Janet grabbed Jack's arm, practically dragging him out the door. "Now let's go before it gets really bad outside. I'd like us to be back here as soon as possible."

"Yes, Ma'am." Jack teased, shrugging at Larry and Terri as he was ushered out the door. "I guess we'll see you guys later."

"Bye, guys. Drive safely." Terri called after them as they exited the apartment.

Terri and Larry were left alone now, and the apartment was strangely quiet except for the now not so distant rumble of thunder. The beautiful nurse thought it odd how the normally talkative used car salesman wasn't talking, not even to chat her up.

"Sounds like it's getting closer." Terri remarked off handedly. "The storm is probably going to be over us in about five minutes, depending on how strong the wind is."

Terri was met with dead air.

Furrowing her brow in confusion, she turned to look at Larry. He appeared to be staring up at the ceiling with a look of dread on his face.

"Larry? What's up?" She asked him.

Larry blinked, snapping out of it. He looked at her uneasily. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I probably will."

That little exchange confused Terri. What an ominous thing for him to say.

"Huh?" Terri questioned him.

"Um...nevermind. I, uh, I gotta go..." Larry stammered awkwardly before hurrying over to the front door. Just as he reached out to put his hand on the doorknob, a brilliant flash of light filled the trio's apartment through the window and a violent crack of thunder coincided with it almost instantly. Terri jumped in surprise as the lights in the apartment flickered on and off briefly, she hoped they didn't blow a fuse. Larry had jerked his hand back from the door knob as if he'd been shocked and cried out, falling onto the floor in a heap. Terri tossed her head back in laughter at Larry's antics. The guy would do anything for a laugh.

"What's the matter, Larry? Did you get shocked?" She asked him, playing along.

No answer.

Terri quirked an eyebrow, puzzled. After a few seconds of silence, strange noises began to reach her ears. Larry was taking in very quiet, very shaky gasps of air. Had the TV been on, she probably wouldn't have heard it, but in the dead silence of the room you could hear a pin drop. Curiousity got the better of her and she whirled around from where she was sitting on the sofa, bracing herself up on her knees to peer over the back of it. What she saw wiped the slight smirk she had right off of her face.

Larry was laying on the floor behind the couch. He was sprawled out on his back and had both hands covering his face. Terri couldn't see his expression, obviously, but she knew it couldn't be good.

Alarmed, she sprang up from the couch and hurried over to where Larry had fallen. Her mind whirled with a thousand possibilies as she did so. Did he hurt himself when he fell? Had he indeed received a slight shock from the doorknob? Whatever it was, she knew he wasn't kidding around.

"Larry?" Terri knelt down beside him. Getting a closer look at him now, she could tell he wasn't unconscious, so that was good. She noticed he was trembling quite hard. She had no idea what to make of this. "Larry, what is it? What's wrong?"

Larry lowered his hands slightly, uncovering his eyes while leaving his nose and mouth still covered. He peered up at her with very fearful, wild looking eyes. He said something to her, but it was too muffled for Terri to understand.

"Huh?" Terri asked him. "What was that?"

Suddenly, there was another bright flash of lightning from outside, followed by a deep rumbling of thunder that was strong enough to shake the walls of the apartment building. Larry flinched violently, crying out in fear. Terri tilted her head to the side quizzically, she was beginning to make the connections.

Larry was having some sort of anxiety attack, probably triggered by the storm.

Terri sighed a little bit in relief. She was glad it wasn't a physical problem.

"Larry, are you afraid of thunderstorms?" Terri proded gently.

"Oh, maybe a little bit..." Larry sheepishly answered her, his voice was shaky with nerves.

Terri smiled warmly, fully kicking into nurse mode. She reached down, gently helping Larry to sit up.

"Okay, up we go. Let's go over to the sofa." She said. Slowly helping him up to his feet, she braced one hand on his back and lightly gripped his elbow with her other hand as she steered him over to the couch. Normally, she would be wary of being too handsy with Larry, just in case the amorous used car salesman got the wrong idea. But this wasn't a typical situation. Besides, Larry didn't seem like himself. He didn't seem to notice her touch and appeared nearly paralyzed with fear due to the storm outside. Terri didn't mind playing nurse for him in this scenario.

Slowly, they sat down on the couch together, slightly facing each other. Larry, although still rigid and carrying a great deal of tension in his body, seemed to relax a little bit. That is until another flash of lightning and boom of thunder practically shook the apartment. He froze up again, folding his arms across his stomach and shrinking in on himself in fear. Curiously enough, he didn't make a sound, but had started to shake again. It was almost as if he was too petrified to make a noise.

Terri reached over, taking both of his trembling hands in hers.

"Larry, just keep looking at me. You're inside and safe, nothing is going to harm you in here." She caught a hold of his gaze and held it, just as she held his hands. Her presence was strong, calm and comforting. Larry took a few deep breaths, willing himself to steady his emotions. Terri realized she was going to have to keep him talking until the storm passed in order to try to get him out of his own head.

"Now," She began. "Tell me, what makes you so afraid of thunderstorms? When did this all start?"

"It's a long story..." Larry faltered.

"Go ahead. You can tell me." Terri smiled, expecting a classic childhood story about getting scared during a thunderstorm

"Okay, well..." Larry began. "Right after high school, I didn't know quite what to do with my life so I signed up for the Marines. I ended up serving four years, from ages 18 to 22."

"Oh wow." Terri remarked softly. "That's interesting. I didn't know that about you."

"And in my last year of service, I was struck by lightning." Larry said.

Terri's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. He was _what_?

"I can't believe it!" Terri exclaimed, her professional nurse persona slipping a little bit in shock of the news. "I've never known anyone who was struck by lightning before! That must've been awful for you!"

"It was." Larry nodded. "Couldn't hear anything except ringing in my ears that whole day. I had these fern like welts all over my body and burns on the bottom of my feet that had to be cut out so they wouldn't get infected."

"That must've been so painful!" Terri gasped, horrified.

"Actually, I couldn't feel a thing. I had absolutely no feeling in my legs for over two weeks." Larry recalled, shuddering a little bit at the memory.

"Oh my goodness! Were you scared?" Terri asked him.

"Terrified, especially after the first few days. I could tell the doctors were really worried, but they tried not to show it. You know, it's one thing to go for a few days without feeling in your legs...but then when one week passed, and then two, I started to fear that I was permanently paralyzed. You have no idea how relieved I felt when I started to gain feeling back after those two weeks. I could've jumped up and down for joy, except my feet were still bandaged from having the wounds cut out of them, so I had to wait to do that until later..." Despite the seriousness of the subject, Larry couldn't help but throw a little bit of humor in there.

"Well, no wonder you're afraid of thunderstorms...you're lucky to be alive!" Terri shook her head in amazement. "Does Jack know? Have you ever told him about this?"

"No, he doesn't know. I've never told anyone before." Larry shrugged. "I hate to be a downer."

"So, has a storm ever snuck up on you when you're at the car lot? How do you handle it?" Terri was genuinely curious.

"I kid you not, I've hid under a car before. Almost got fired." Larry laughed at the memory.

"Oh really?" Terri was amused. Larry's candor caught her off guard and she laughed along with him. A comfortable silence fell upon them and Terri felt proud that she was able to calm Larry down enough to get him to open up to her. Suddenly an idea came to her.

"I'll tell you what..." Terri smiled. "One of my favorite things to do growing up was to sit on the porch and watch the rain fall and I haven't done it in forever. How about you join me on our balcony sometime for a little weather watching?"

Larry paused, looking unsure. He liked the idea of being with Terri any way he could get her, but storm watching obviously wasn't his favorite activity.

"I don't know..."

"I'll be right there with you." Terri promised. She then playfully patted his knee. "What are the odds of getting struck by lightning twice?"

"What are the odds of being struck by lightning _once_?" Larry shook his head. "I don't think it's such a good idea..."

"Nothing bad will happen to you, I can promise you that." Terri soothed. "Please?"

"Alright, alright..." Larry relented, sighing. He was powerless when it came to beautiful women. "But if anything happens to me, you owe me big!"

"Okay." Terri nodded, playfully saluting him. "You know, this is a really big step. I'm very proud of you."

Larry looked at her in shock. He never expected her to say those words to him, not in a million years. For once, he was speechless. He averted his gaze, feeling his face heating up. He shrugged slightly in response to her sentence, words failing him at the moment.

"Hey, you know what? The storm has passed." Terri was pleased to inform him.

Larry gasped, overjoyed as relief began to flood through him at the realization. Normally, he'd spend these moments by himself as a complete mess just waiting for it to be over. But with Terri, it seemed to be over in no time at all. How did she do that?

"Oh, thank God..." Larry breathed.

Maybe spending some time on the apartment balcony with Terri Alden wouldn't be so bad after all.

THE END


End file.
